ScienceFriday.com Interviews JD Albert About the Invention of Electronic Ink

Chau Tu, reporter/producer for Science Friday, the Public Radio International show that is “the source for entertaining and educational stories about science, technology, and other cool stuff” interviewed Director of Engineering, JD Albert, for her article, “How Electronic Ink Was Invented.”

“It was really true experimental discovery,” JD told Tu about inventing something he and his co-inventors had been told by the world’s most experienced chemists and materials scientists was impossible.

“We had ideas, we were doing a lot of research, reading a lot of patents — many of which were expired patents — recreating experiments, and really, truly forging ahead to make this thing work,” he told Tu. “It involved a lot of prototypes, and it involved a huge amount of failed experiments.”

Tu’s article traces the invention and its path to wide commercial success with the debut of Kindle. Her piece coincides with the induction of JD Albert, Barrett Comiskey, and Joseph Jacobson into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.